POWER May 2022 - 9

GLOBAL MONITOR
project to supply dedicated renewable
power to oil and gas installations.
However, much larger projects are on
the horizon. In January, EDF Renewables
and DP Energy partnered to explore developing
the 1-GW Gwynt Glas project in the
Celtic Sea. Meanwhile, in anticipation for
substantial demand for floating offshore
wind, Danish wind giant Ørsted acquired
a majority stake in the 100-MW Salamander
floating offshore wind development
project off the Scottish coast.
In France, Ocean Winds and the
Banque des Territoires in March signed
an agreement with Euroports for port
services to support the construction
on the 30-MW Eoliennes Flottantes du
Golfe du Lion (EFGL) pilot project, which
will comprise three 10-MW turbines supported
by Principle Power's WindFloat
semi-submersible floating foundations.
And in April, GreenIT, a joint venture between
End subsidiary Plenitude, and CI
IV, a fund managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure
Partners, signed an agreement
to develop two 750-MW floating
offshore wind farms in Sicily and Sardinia.
Madrid-based Repsol and Ørsted also
signed an agreement in April to explore
floating offshore wind projects in Spain.
More projects may be forthcoming in
Spain, following that country's publication
of the draft " Marine Spatial Plan and
Marine Energy Roadmap 2021. "
Backed by oil and gas majors, floating
offshore development is also ramping
up in Asia. In March, Shell Gas & Power
Developments and CoensHexicon signed
a memorandum of understanding with
power generator Korea Southern Power
Co. to drive the 1.3-GW MunmuBaram
project off the coast of Ulsan and secured
two electricity business licenses from
the country's Ministry of Trade, Industry,
and Energy. And, in Japan, Aker Offshore
Wind and Mainstream Renewable Power
pushed on with early-stage development
of an 800-MW floating project.
-Sonal Patel is a POWER senior
associate editor.
UK Leans Heavily on Nuclear in
Bold New Energy Strategy
A long-awaited energy strategy published
by the UK government on April 6
lays out bold commitments that tackle
Great Britain's multi-pronged challenges,
including achieving net-zero carbon
emissions while ensuring energy security
and affordability. The sweeping plan
sharply reverses course on ambitions
announced in October 2021 to source
100% of the country's power from renewable
energy. It instead envisions a
radical, accelerated expansion of the
UK's nuclear and offshore wind fleet, and
delivers a long-term shift that will ramp
up domestic production of oil and gas.
Though delayed by political wrangling,
the urgency of the new strategy is amplified
by a critical power supply (Figure 4)
and fuel affordability crisis that is compounded
by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
" The government's immediate priority
has been to provide financial assistance
to families and businesses struggling
with higher energy bills, " the strategy
says. " But when the UK is spending the
equivalent of over £1,200 [$1,600] per
person this year, just to service the national
debt, we cannot afford merely to
rely on taxpayer funding to assist with
paying ever higher bills; we need to bring
down the bills themselves. "
To boost its low-carbon energy security,
the strategy prominently calls on the
UK to " reverse decades of myopia " and
target adding up to eight new nuclear reactors
to its six existing reactors-potentially
tripling its nuclear capacity from the
current 8.1 GW to up to 24 GW by 2050.
The effort will boost nuclear's UK generation
share from the current 15% to 25%.
Underscoring the urgency of adding
what could amount to " a reactor a year, "
the government plans to take one projMay
2022 | POWER
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POWER May 2022

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